The paradox of airbnb, crime and house prices: A reconciliation

Abstract

While in many housing studies, Airbnb is evidenced to be a demand driver that leads to a positive effect on property rents and prices, it is also argued that such tourist accommodation in a neighbourhood causes an increase in criminal activities that weigh on its property values. How can we reconcile such contradictory arguments? This research note aims to use a difference-in-differences model to empirically disentangle the moderating effect of Airbnb on the relationship between crime and house prices. Using the housing transaction data in the two census years of the Auckland Region, New Zealand, we demonstrate that the impact of crime on house prices is contingent on the density of Airbnb. After controlling neighbourhood qualities, such as household incomes, ethnicity concentration and proportion of public housing in each census tract, the effect of crime rate on house prices is negatively moderated by the number of Airbnb listings, especially in apartment-type housing. The result can be interpreted as showing the effects of trespassing-related crime on house prices.